Enclosed swivel lighting fixture



March 7, 1961 N. R. SCHWARTZ 2,974,220

ENCLOSED SWIVEL LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed Nov. 28, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR. /V/77H/?/V E SCH/M41672 W March 7, 1961 N. R. SCHWARTZ2,974,220

ENCLOSED SWIVEL LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed Nov. 2a, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BYW 73: 4 @4// ENCLOSED SWIVEL LIGHTING FIXTURE Nathan R. Schwartz,Yonkers, N.Y., assignor to Naras Research Inc, New York, N.Y., acorporation of New York Filed Nov. 28, 1958, Ser. No. 776,972 9 Claims.Cl. 240-128) This invention relates to electrical lighting fixtures andmore particularly to a fixture of the type which includes a lamp shadehaving enclosed therein and rigidly secured the swivel is sufficientlyfirm so that the position of the lighting unit does not change when itis desired to keep it in a fixed position.

Typical swivel unit assemblies are known and are, for example, describedin applicants patents Nos. 2,643,144 and 2,362,100. Prior to the presentinvention, however, it has not been possible to economically incorporatea swivel unit of this general nature into a lamp shade so that the unitis enclosed within the shade, and does not project from any portionthereof. As will be hereinafter more apparent, such an arrangement hasmany mechanical and constructional advantages and, at the same time,provides a fixture having a clean looking, functional outwardappearance.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide aswivel mounted lighting fixture which is economical to manufacture, andyet is adapted to conceal the swivel portion thereof in such a manner asto increase the structural strength thereof and not apply any unduestresses to any of the component parts thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an enclosed swivelunit in which all parts are secured so that no undesired relativemovement between such pants occurs when it is desired to reposition thelamp by a movement imparted to the swivel unit.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent whentaken in connection with the drawings and the following description inwhich:

Figure 1 is generally illustrative of atypical lampshade in which theswivel unit is enclosed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross-section view of the fixture shown inFigure 1 which illustrates in detail the construction of the swivel andshade assembly, and the means for securing the swivel within said shade.

Figure 3 is illustrative of the type of swivel unit which may be securedwithin the lampshade as hereinafter described.

Figure 4 is an exploded view showing the sequence and arrangement bywhich the swivel unit is secured to the shade member through the use ofan intermediate mounting flange member.

Figure 5 illustrates in detail the serrated neck portion of the mountingflange member and its relationship to the corresponding part of theshade before the two are joined together. z Figure 6 is similar toFigure 5 and shows the relationship of the shade and mounting flangeafter joining.

the present invention, any well known swivel unit having States Patent;0 e Mimi?" Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of Figure 2 taken alongthe lines 7-7 and looking in the direction of the is effective inrigidly securing the respective members to,

each other and thereby prevent any relative rotation be tween suchmembers. 7

Generally, the present invention provides, in an electrical lightingfixture, a lamp shade having an enclosed swivel assembly securedthereto, at the end thereof, where the bulb is secured, i.e. the neck orsmaller end. The

entire swivel assembly lies within the contours of the shade. Extendingfrom the swivel assembly through an opening in the shade is a suitableconduit which provides means for imparting both angular and rotativemovement to the swivel and which also acts as an enclosure forelectrical wiring.

The swivel unit is securedto the shell or shade by means of a mountingflange member. In accordance with the desirable features herein abovereferred to may be utilized. An example of such a swivel is illustratedin Figure 3 and will hereinafter be described in more detail.

.The mounting flange generally comprises a cup portion adapted to fitover the swivel unit and rigidly engage the same, and a flaredfrusto-conical member which abuts the inside surface of the lampshade.The mounting flange at the neck or narrow end thereof preferablyterminates in a plurality of radially extending serrated projections,the function of which will now become evident.

In assembling the unit, the outer shade or shell member is beaded undercompressive pressure so that it is bent around and engages both surfacesof the serrated projections of the mounting flange. This causes anengagement of the spaces between the teeth of the serrations whichprovides a tight, frictional grip between the mounting flange and shadeand prevents turningof the mounting flange with respect to the shadewhen a rotative force is applied externally to the shade or to theconduit member extending from the neck of the shade.

The wider frusto-conical section of the mounting flange has, cuttherefrom, a pair of tabs which may be bent sharply inwardly against thecorrespondingportion of the swivel unit, and firmly engage the swivelunit so as to prevent any rotation between the said swivel unit andmounting flange. Further means for preventing such rotation are providedby aligned longitudinal slots in both the shell of the swivel unit andthe mounting flange.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it is seen that the presentassembly comprises generally a shade member 10 having secured to theneck or narrow end thereof a swivel assembly generally designated as 13with a suitable arm 12 extending therefrom. The swivel shell member isdesignated as 14. While details of the specific swivel form no part ofthe present invention, it can be seen from Figure 3 that. a suitableswivel would also generally include a ball assembly 60, a cup washer 61,spring 62 for forcing the ball firmly into the shell, and a retainingwasher 63, all of which are retained in place by a shaped portion 18 ofthe mounting flange with the slotted swivel shell is illustrated inFigure 8. j, v The swivel is secured within the contours of the shade bya mounting flange. The mounting flange in addition to having cup shapedportion 18, is outwardly flared, has a radial surface 38 and terminatesin a fnrsto-conical section 20, the outer surface of which is adapted toabut the inner surface of the shell 10.' The mounting flange may, ifdesired, be welded to the shell at this point, although the structure isotherwise considered sufliciently rugged so that this is not necessary.

The narrow end or neck of the mounting flange preferably terminates in aplurality of radially extending serrated sections 22 which arecompressed when the shell 10 is beaded, as shown in Figure 2. Thebeading takes place under sufiicient compressive pressure so as tocreate plastic flow of the terminal edge 26 of the shell into theinterstices between the serrated projections 22. The serrations thusprevent rotative motion of the mounting flange 18 with respect to theshade 10 by locking the U two together through the frictional forceprovided in the compression of the edge of the shell member and mountingflange.

The appearance of the shell 10 and mounting flange 18 before and afterthe compression or heading operation is best illustrated in Figures and6, Figure 5 showing the serrations 22 by means of dotted lines, andFigure 6 showing the appearance of the terminal edge 30 of shade as itappears after compression. It should be apparent that the beading couldalso be effected by bending the serrations 22 outwardly over the shell,and moreover, even without serrations on the neck of the mountingflange, a compressive force applied between the edges of the mountingflange and shade could effect a reasonably secure joining of the two.

The shade or shell 10 is provided with a slotted opening 32, asillustrated in Figure 4. This slotted opening provides for the passageof arm 12 which is illustrated in the form of a nipple having a threadedend 33. The slot is of such length as to allow for the desired angularmovement of the swivel member by applying pressure to the externallyextending nipple or to the shade. Most swivels are designed to providean angular movement of about 90.

When the mounting flange is secured to the shell, the next stage inassembling the unit calls for insertion of the swivel unit which isillustrated in Figure 4 as being contained within shell 14. The swivelis provided with a pair of slots 34 which can be engaged by tabs 35 whchare cut from the mounting flange, and which result in slots of similarsize in the surfaces 20 and 38 of the said mounting flange. The tabs 35may be bent inwardly into slots 34 so as to firmly engage the swivelunit, the completed assembly having the appearance indicated in Figure 7when viewed from the open end of the shell.

It is necessary, of course, for the mounting flange to have an opening41 which will correspond to the slotted opening 32 of the shade or shellmember. These openings may be provided by a single cutting operationafter the mounting flange and shade are assembled. A corresponding slot43 appears in the shell member which contains the swivel unit.Alternatively, these slots can be cut separately and then aligned in theassembly operation.

As previously mentioned, it is also necessary to align slots and 16.Thus, the swivel shell and mounting flange are rigidly secured not onlyby tabs 35 fitting into slots 34, but also by means of the alignedlongitudinal slots 15 and 16. After the parts are assembled, the swivelunit may, of course, be supplied with a conventional lighting fixturesocket which, in the case of larger units, would be a porcelain socket.The socket can be screwed into threaded hole 50 located in the end ofthe swivel unit.

In prior devices wherein the swivel units are external to the shade thelight socket would ordinarily be secured to the external swivel unitthrough the shell by means of a pair of screws. When an external forcewas applied to the shade or external swivel unit so as tofetfect adesired movement, the resulting stresses were borne primarily by therelatively weak connecting screws.

In the foregoing, this invention has been described only in connectionwith preferred embodiments thereof. Many variations and modifications ofthe principles of the present invention within the scope of thedescription herein are obvious. Accordingly, it is preferred to be boundnot by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appending claims.

I claim:

1. In an electrical lighting fixture, a shade having a neck at one endand an open light-emitting portion at the other end, said shade having aswivel assembly enclosed therein, the swivel assembly being rigidlysecured to a mounting flange, said mounting flange being disposed withinthe contours of said shade and being secured to the neck of said shade;an arm for enclosing electrical wiring extending from said swivelassembly through an opening in the neck of said shade; the said swivelassembly being adapted to permit relative movement of said shade withrespect to said arm.

2. In an electrical lighting fixture, a shade having a neck at one endand an open light-emitting portion at the other end, said shade having aswivel assembly enclosed therein, the swivel assembly being rigidlysecured to a mounting flange, said mounting flange being disposed withinthe contours of said shade and having a cup-shaped section surroundingthe swivel assembly and being held in intimate engagement therewith,said cup-shaped section terminating in a neck which is secured to theneck of said shade; an arm for enclosing electrical wiring extendingfrom said swivel assembly through an opening in the neck of said shade;the said swivel assembly being adapted to permit relative movement ofsaid shade with respect to said arm.

3. In an electrical lighting fixture, a shade having a neck at one endand an open light-emitting portion at the other end, said shade having aswivel assembly enclosed therein, the swivel assembly being rigidlysecured to a mounting flange, said mounting flange being disposed withinthe contours of said shade and having a cup-shaped section surroundingthe swivel assembly and being held in intimate engagement therewith,said cup-shaped section terminating in a neck which is compressivelybeaded to the neck of said shade; an arm for enclosing electrical wiringextending from said swivel assembly through. an opening in the neck ofsaid shade; the said swivel assembly being adapted to permit relativemovement of said shade with respect to said arm.

4. In an electrical lighting fixture, a shade having a neck at one endand an open light-emitting portion at the other end, said shade having aswivel assembly enclosed therein, the swivel assembly having a shellrigidly secured to a mounting flange, said mounting flange beingdisposed within the contours of said shade and having a cup-shapedsection surrounding the swivel assembly and being held in intimateengagement therewith, said cup-shaped section terminating in a neckhaving radially extending serrated projections, said neck being rigidlysecured to the neck of said shade by compressive beading and frictionalengagement between said shade neck and serrated projections; an arm forenclosing electrical wiring extending from said swivel assembly througha slotted opening in the neck of said shade; the said swivel assemblybeing adapted to permit relative movement of said shade with respect tosaid arm.

5. The lighting fixture set forth in claim 4 in which the mountingflange includes an outwardly flared frustoconical section secured tosaid cup-shaped section by a radial extension, the terminal edge of saidflared section abutting the internal surface of the shade.

6. The lighting fixture set forth in claim 5 in which the frusto-conicalsection of the mounting flange includes a pair of tabs bent inwardlyover corresponding slots in the shell of the swivel assembly.

7. In an electrical lighting fixture, a shade having a neck at one endand an open light-emitting portion at the other end, said shade having aswivel assembly enclosed therein, said swivel assembly having a shellrigidly secured to a mounting flange, said mounting flange beingdisposed within the contours of said shade and having a cup-shapedsection surrounding the swivel assembly and being held in intimateengagement therewith by means of aligned slotted indentations in theshell of said swivel assembly and in said cup-shaped section, saidcup-shaped section terminating in a neck having radially extendingserrated projections, said neck being rigidly secured to the neck ofsaid shade by compressive beading and fric tional engagement betweensaid shade neck and serrated projections; an arm for enclosingelectrical wiring extending from said swivel assembly through a slottedopening in the neck of said shade; the said swivel assembly beingadapted to permit relative movement of said shade with respect to saidarm.

6 8. The lighting fixture set forth in claim 7 in which the mountingflange includes an outwardly flared frusto References Cited in the fileof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,491,094 Godley Apr. 22, 19241,909,151 Kleinert May 16, 1933 2,161,433 Ritz-Weller June 6, 19392,643,144 Schwartz June 23, 1953

